Why do they even need ice? I can't understand the need for ice, am my the only one?

I thought that maybe it was for food storage but wouldn't they have food that doesn't need to be cold and whatever they had would be bad by the time the ice got there. It would only keep food cool for a day or two at most.

I use ice to make my water nice and cold so I have something to sip on while digging around the Internet but other than that I never use the stuff - it's kind of a luxury, nice to have it but don't need it.